Wow, people really have a problem with the whole immigration thing in this country don't they? It seems like every week somebody's informing me of how this country is now being over-run by foreigners, stealing either our benefits, our jobs, or our wives. Or all three. At once. Whilst grooming our children. With Gangsta rap and Turkey Twizzlers.
Just the other night one of our bouncers at work was sounding off about how this country's lost the plot regarding the whole thing, and I could only reply with "well I disagree, but I don't want to get into it". Mainly because I try not to get involved in big arguments with people who's job role could encompass saving my life one day.
But yeah, why is this opinion so overwhelmingly widespread, mmm? Have people simply been paying too much attention to what the Daily Mail tells them? (Along with the rest of the newspapers, come to think of it)
I thought I'd attempt to douse the situation with some cold hard facts I came across, instead of - you know - scaremongering and distortion and that...
The number of people applying for asylum in the UK is at its lowest level since 1989.
The UK hosts 3% of the world's refugees. Germany hosts 8%, Pakistan 13%.
Asylum seekers supported by the Government receive less financial support than British citizens are entitled to.
Albert Einstein entered Britain as a refugee.
The value that immigrants - including refugees - bring to the economy is that they pay £2.5 billion more in taxes than they take from the country in welfare benefits.
(source)
Some of those surprised me. I mean it's not as if you ever hear them from the non-BBC areas of the media is it? They'd rather stoke the fires and sell more copies, turning us into a country of paranoid racists, of course. They know full well that immigration is the one issue that will really get their readership riled up while they're necking their Carling's watching the football on a sunday afternoon.
Even without all those perspective-setting facts, why are the public so paranoid about people seeking asylum in this country anyway? Where's the compassion to say that just because you're not fortunate enough to be born in this country, it means you're less deserving of our help? We're happy to help you out with a few quid to save our conscience when the TV appeals to us to do so, as long as you don't actually come anywhere near where we live, thankyouverymuch.
Am I just being a silly idealist here? Thoughts please.
3 comments:
I completely agree! I didn't know of the £2.5billion surplus, but it really doesn't surprise me at all.
The fact is, Britain is a mongrel of a country. We have all ways had immigrants, from the Normans in 1066 to the Jewish refugees in the interwar periods of last century.
I feel that this xenophobia is caused purely by tabloids, such as the mail for continually lying to its readership. For example, the mail refers to immigrants as "Illegal Asylum Seekers". That is a compete oxymoron, you can't, by the very definition of the word Asylum Seeker, have an illegal one.
I think the real issue with the British public is the abuse of asylum (i.e. illegitimate claims)
Stats have shown asylum figures to drop so far this year, although there are stealth figures in and around this (such as dependants claiming asylum etc) so I wouldnt read into that too much.
re: the surplus- People seem to be getting on the backs of the Poles and other Eastern European economic migrants which I think is unfair- these people work hard, are polite and they pay their taxes unlike some. And I'd rather a polite hardworking Pole serve me somewhere than a scumbag brit who cares little about anything or anyone.
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